Drive from Utoro to Akan Mashu National Park with stops at sunflower field, Road to the Sky, Mount Shari Viewpoint and Sakura Falls

27 August 2023

After staying 2 nights in Utoro where we explored the Shiretoko National Park, we continued our road trip with a short drive to the Akan Mashu National Park.

Our route would pass by Shari town, which gave us another opportunity to visit the Road to the Sky viewpoint (location in Google Map) and also a sunflower field (location in Google map) that we saw a few days ago when we were on our way to Utoro. It was drizzling on that day so we did not manage to shoot nice pictures. We were blessed with better weather this morning.

Sunflower field near Shari

We parked our car safely on a small bay by the road. Although there is no fence, we made it a point not to encroach onto the farmer’s field.

Enjoying the views from the side of the road.

Fortunately, we were on higher ground so we were able to get good views of the entire field. We could even see the town of Shari and the Sea of Okhotsk behind the sunflower field.

We could see the town of Shari and the Sea of Okhotsk behind the sunflower field.

With the morning sun behind us and the sunflower field to the west of the road, all the blooms were facing us! You get the feeling of a parade commander standing in front of his troops.

    

Road to the Sky viewpoint

The Road to the Sky viewpoint is just a few hundred meters down the same road. This is a 28 km straight road that seems to lead to the sky in the horizon.  

We met some bikers with awesome looking Harley Davidson bikes.

Awesome machine at the Road to Sky viewpoint.

Thank heaven the sky is clear and we could see the road leading to the sky in the horizon.

Tour buses heading to the Road to the Sky viewpoint. They did not stop. Surprising.

Driving down the Road to the Sky

We continued towards Akan Mashu National Park by driving down the Road to the Sky.

Driving down the Road to the Sky.

We turned off at Highway 1115, somewhere near Shari and took the road southwards. We could see farmlands with Mount Shari in the background from the road.

Mount Shari viewpoint

View of Mount Shari from the car.

There is actually a roadside viewing area with parking lots (location in Google Map) where one could get good views of Mount Shari. Just before that, we saw a farm with fields of wilted sunflowers. Sunflowers blooming time span is short and weather dependent. So we were indeed lucky to have enjoyed seeing the field of golden sunflowers earlier.

View of Mount Shari partially shrouded by clouds at the Mount Shari roadside viewpoint.

Sakura Falls

One of the good things about visiting Hokkaido in summer is that we could potentially observe the salmon run. One of the best places to watch salmon jumping up and over waterfalls in Hokkaido is the Sakura Fall or Sakura-no-taki.

Sakura Falls is located along the Shari River and it is definitely worthwhile to take a slight detour off highway 1115 to go check out the salmons. Few knew of this place and the only way to get to the falls is by car (location of car park in Google Map). 

An information signboard at the car park indicated that about 3000 cherry salmon come back from the ocean to spawn at this river every year. From early June to late August, especially on warmer days, one could see these salmons attempting to jump up and over the waterfall to get to the breeding grounds.

  Information about the salmon run at Sakura Falls.

Typical bear warning sign at the Sakura Falls car park.

Like many places of nature in Hokkaido, there was a sign warning of bears. Bears love to eat salmons, so it was not surprising to see this sign. 

The short trail leading to the waterfall was quite obvious from the car park. Since we were visiting almost at the end of the salmon run, I was prepared for disappointment. We did not see many salmons when we were at the Onnebetsu Bridge a couple of days ago.

After a short walk through a small forest, we came to the falls.

First sight of Sakura Falls. Two other families were at the falls.

Lo and behold!

Salmon attempting to jump over Sakura Falls. 

We could see many salmons attempting to jump over the 3 meters high waterfall. As a nature lover, this was one of the highlights of my trip. It was exciting to watch this amazing sight, live and in person.

We spent some time taking photos and videos of the salmon. My wife was cheering them on but during this time, we did not witness any fish making it over the falls! So sad.

Video of salmon attempting to jump over Sakura Falls in Hokkaido

 

  Reddish hue on the cherry salmon. Shot taken with my Canon G5X using 1/1600 sec time exposure.

A photo of the family before leaving Sakura Falls.

So far, our morning drive from Utoro to Akan Mashu National Park with sightseeing stops had gone according to plan.

From Sakura Falls, we returned to highway 1115 and continued our journey towards Kaminokoike (our next sightseeing stop) located in the Akan Mashu National Park.

More on our exploration of the Akan Mashu National Park in the next post.

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Exploring Akan Mashu National Park (Part 1) – Kaminokoike, Marufu Coffee, Iozan (Sulphur Mountain) and lunch at Kawayu Onsen

27 August 2023

Our first stop in the Akan Mashu National Park was Kaminokoike or "God's Child Pond." It is a small pond located in a forest northeast of Lake Mashu.

Kami-no-koike

Access is by a narrow unpaved road in the right side (west) of highway 1115 and it is a good place to visit after Sakura Falls. My son drove slowly and carefully to avoid potholes on this narrow forest road while I scanned the undergrowth of the forest for ezo deer, red foxes or even brown bears. None was seen.

After travelling about 2 km, we came to large clearing in the forest which is the car park (location in Google Map). Signboards at the far side of the clearing mark the start of the forest trail leading to the pond.

The pond got its name from stories that it is fed by underground waters from Lake Mashu, which is known as Kamuito (Lake of the Gods) by the indigenous Ainu people. Thinking that this beautiful pond must be a gift from the gods, the people who inhabited these lands in the ancient times came to call it "God's Child Pond."

Kaminokoike is a small pond 5 meters deep and 220 meters in circumference. Although small, the water is extremely clear and blue! Depending on the weather, the surface of the water looks emerald blue, which is very mysterious.

Kaminokoike, with its blue colour and crystal clear water.

Viewing the pond from the nature trail.

There is a nature trail with raised wooden boardwalk that passes over a stream with crystal clear water and then encircles the small natural pond surrounded by forest. We took a slow walk on this trail, mindful of the potential presence of brown bears. There were very few people visiting this blue pond, compared to the blue pond of Biei that we visited earlier in our road trip.

Signage explaining how the pond got its name, plus other interesting information.

About 12,000 tons of the underground water has been gushing into Kaminokoike Pond every day. The water stays at low 8 ℃ throughout the year (even in winter) which keeps the submerged trees from rotting in the blue water.

Large and small fish that looked like trout enjoying their peaceful existence in the blue pond.

Fishes swim amongst the petrified-looking debris and we could see the current coming out from an underwater vent in the middle of the pond.

The pond discharges its water down a small stream next to the car park and I could spot more fishes that looked like salmon on this stream. 

 

What fish is this? Salmon or trout?

I enjoyed this visit to Kaminokoike as the pond was so natural, beautiful and unique in its own way. The walk in the woods with views of the blue pond was so peaceful and relaxing.  An amazing creation by Mother Nature. No wonder the Ainu people named it the “God’s Child Pond”.

Marufu Coffee Roastery

After visiting Kaminokoike, we went to search for a place for coffee and also toilets!

Thanks to Google Map, we found a excellent place called Marufu Coffee Roastery (location in Google Map) near the small town of Midori. We trusted the directions given by Google Map that led us through desolated farms roads to a wooden hut that is almost in the middle of nowhere.

Exterior of Marufu Coffee Roastery.

Unpaved road just outside of Marufu Coffee Roastery.

Upon entry, we were warmly greeted by the friendly owner who could speak a little English. This place mainly sells coffee beans, but would also serve wanderers who ventured in cups of their freshly roasted coffee.

Jars of various types of coffee beans at the counter by the entrance.

The owner seated us in a cosy room with bookshelves, knick knacks on the floor and a single small round table with some chairs.

He then brought a basket with small jars of coffee beans and proceeded to explain the various beans on their menu. The owner is a certified Q Arabica Grader and he seems eager to share his knowledge.

This coffee roastery specialises in exotic beans,  colour coded by taste (dark, medium or light).

We could smell each type of coffee before ordering our cups of specialty coffee. 500 Yen for a cup of freshly roasted with any beans except the Geisha (600 yen) which is the more expensive beans.

We could smell the different coffee beans before placing our orders. We ordered the Colombia Supremo, Ethiopia Guji Uraga Natural and a Ethopia Guji Geisha.

The coffees were served in Japanese Style Siphon Coffee Maker and nice china crockery. The owner also gave us espresso cups so we could try each other's cups of coffee, which was a nice touch.

Nice crockery and ambience in this unique cafe.

Besides coffee, the cafe also serves different kinds of orange juices, milk, ice cream and sweets like tofu terrine, cheesecakes and apple cream cake.

Basque cheesecake (left) and apple cream cake (right) that goes extremely well with the coffee. Each for 350 Yen.

The friendly owner came to chat and recommend that we go see the salmon at Sakura Falls. He was slightly surprised when we told him we had seen it.

I told him I recognised the dog in his cafe which was from the HMV logo. He told us the dog’s name is Nipper and he bought this statue from a local electronics store.

Statue of Nipper, the dog in the logo of HMV (His Master Voice), the dog listening intently to the gramophone.

When he found out that we were from Singapore, he told us about his experience in Singapore and how he bought a statue of a pink dolphin from there.

A special “selfie” outside Marufu Coffee Roastery. Note the limited opening hours – 10 AM to 4 PM, Friday to Sunday only. 

Overall, we had an excellent experience at this cafe drinking aromatic specialty coffee, savouring delicious cakes and having a chat with the friendly owner. A gem of a place to rest and relax after visiting the nearby Sakura Falls and Kaminokoike.

Iozan or Sulphur Mountain

It was slightly after 11 AM when we left the cafe. The weather in the morning on this day was good but clouds were forming and rain is imminent. We decided that our next stop should be Iozan or Sulphur Mountain before the weather turn on us.

  Signboard showing the name of the mountain in Kanji which translates to “Sulphur Mountain”.

Iozan translated as "Sulfur Mountain" is an active volcano in the vicinity of Kawayu Onsen. We arrived at the Iozan parking lot, after 30 minutes drive from Marufu Coffee Roastery. This is a paid parking lot (500 yen).

Tip: Do not throw away the parking ticket as it allows for parking at the observation deck number 1 at Lake Mashu as well.

From the car park, we could already see   yellow, sulfurous vents with steam rising up into the sky. The mountain stands at 512 meters tall and was once the site for sulfur mining in the Meiji era. There are over 1,500 small and large volcanic craters all over Iozan. 

Walking on the barren landscape from the car park towards the Iozan.

Sulphur everywhere!

Iozan with the numerous yellow sulphur vents up in the mountain. 

Iozan is quite unique in that visitors are free to walk around the steaming, smoking area at its base and see the volcanic activity up close. The more dangerous area further up the mountain is cordon off.

Zoomed in photo of the yellow sulphur on the outside of one of the vents.

We could smell the sulphur and hear the roar of the steam from close proximity.

There are signs warning of boiling hot spring and steam.

Hot spring vents where we could see the boiling water bubbling on the surface.

Getting a good facial treatment from the acidic steam.

One has to use common sense and not get too close. Wind direction could change suddenly and steam could scald one’s face.  

This is a hellish and yet fun and interesting place to visit. It was the closest that I ever got to an active volcano.

  Iozan was our highlight in Akan Mashu National Park on this day. 

We ended our visit to Iozan with a short tour of the visitor center.                

Lunch at Otafuku Syokudo

It was close to 12.30 PM when we left Iozan. I had earmarked 2 restaurants that served lunch in Kawayu Onsen town

As usual, the town was deserted in mid-day. The first restaurant that we went to was closed.

Fortunately the second restaurant (Otafuku Syokudo) was opened. Otafuku Syokudo opens from 11:00 to 14:30. This restaurant was operated by an old couple and serves Ezo deer meat dishes.

  Menu at Otafuku Syokudo.

The lunch menu has the Ezo deer rice set for 1550 Yen, Shoyu(soy sauce) and Shio(salt) deer ramen for 1000 yen and miso-based vegetable Ramen for 1100 Yen.

We ordered the last available Ezo deer rice set and also 2 bowls of ramen.

Ezo deer rice set that came grilled deer meat, soba, steam rice and pickles.

The deer rice set was excellent. No wonder it was sold out fast. The meat was tender and well seasoned.

Soy sauce deer ramen.

Shio ramen with slices of deer meat and garnishing.

The deer meat ramen were delicious too.

Overall, this restaurant is a good place for lunch when visiting Kawayu Onsen. There are not many eateries in Akan Mashu National Park that are opened for lunch, so it is recommended to come early.

Kawayu Onsen

Kawayu Onsen is a little hot spring (onsen) town with many hot spring resorts and hotel.  Kawa means river. The town could boast that 100% of its hot waters come directly from the source Iozan and the river of hot water that flows through the town. There are about 20 hotels and ryokans in the town, and each use the rich hot spring water for the bath. There are also many free footbaths scattered all over the town.

There was a footbath located between Otafuku Syokudo and the place I parked my car. I stopped for a little dip in the footbath.

The highly acidic water contains sulphur.

The water was a little cloudy with white particles of sulphur in it. The temperature was lukewarm, not hot enough for me to enjoy the dip.

Pretty summer flowers on the roadside in Kawayu Onsen.

We did not stay long, as we have more sights to see in Akan Mashu National Park. In any case, we would be checking into Hotel Parkway with onsen baths later in the day.

Next Post: Exploring Akan Mashu National Park (Part 2) – Lake Mashu, Lake Kussharo, Kanon Coffee & Sweets and evening at Hotel Parkway

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